


Orphaned

by spooky_fox



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 06:24:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6041512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spooky_fox/pseuds/spooky_fox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That fateful night in 1973 from the perspective of one of the other children left behind</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orphaned

At about 8:30pm on the night of November 27th 1973, Jeffrey Spender woke up full of a dread that he couldn't understand or explain. He lay still in bed listening to his parents leaving the house, starting the car and driving off. It wasn't the first time his parents had left him home alone if they were only going out for a short while since living on an army base made break ins a rarity. On this night though, the anxiety kept growing until Jeffrey felt like it was going to choke him and he scrambled out of bed.

He knew the front door was locked but his window wasn't so he clambered awkwardly onto a chair and out, dropping into the front garden. He could see the taillights of his parents car disappearing up the street.

"Mommy!" he screamed and took off as fast as his four-year-old legs could go.

By the time he reached the end of the street he was gasping and sobbing. His parents' car was long out of sight but he kept going. He had half an idea that he might catch them when they stopped at the checkpoint at the entrance to the base. Mostly though, he kept running because he couldn't think of anything else to do. The dread that had woken him had grown into a full blown panic that left no room for anything else in his head.

He didn't stop running until he was within sight of the checkpoint. The gates were shut and there was no sign of anyone but the guard in his little booth. Unable to run anymore, Jeffrey sat in the dirt and wept bitterly, not caring that his pyjamas were getting filthy or that his feet were numb with cold.

After a little while it occurred to him that he would get in trouble if his father caught him out like this and that he had to get back home. So he picked himself up and began the long walk back to the house. Although he hadn't noticed before, now he was acutely aware of the cold. He was shivering in his pyjamas and small stones kept digging in to his bare feet. He was still crying, though less fiercely now, and part of him hoped that someone would hear and come and take him inside and tell him that it was going to be ok, that his parents would be back soon and that he could wait in the warmth until they returned. No one did though.

By the time he had reached his front garden again, Jeffrey was almost asleep on his feet. Unable to manage the climb back through his window, he sat in the grass underneath it, tucked his knees up to his chin, put his face in his arms and waited for his parents to come home or for the world to end, whichever came first. He must have fallen asleep like this because the next thing he knew he was waking up in his bed with the morning sun coming through his window. His father had found him in the front garden and had carried him inside. He never spoke of that night, nor did he get upset at the state of Jeffrey's pyjamas, but Jeffrey did not see his mother again for a long time.


End file.
